Roll lift device



y 1954 R. c. BLAISDELL ROLL LIFT DEVICE Filed Oct. 25, 1961 INVENTOR RAYMOND C. BLAISDELL BY M, {MIMI ATTO R N EYS United States Patent 3,134,620 ROLL LIFT DEVICE Raymond C. Elaisdell, East Millinocket, Maine, assignor to Great Northern Paper Company, East Millinocket, Maine, a corporation of Maine Filed Oct. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 147,659 2 Claims. (Cl. 29488) The present invention relates to a device for grasping and lifting heavy rolls of paper, such as newsprint used in the printing of newspapers, without m-arring or in any way damaging the paper. More particularly, the present invention relates to a grapple-type device having a deformable rubber plug which is adapted to be inserted into the hollow core of the paper roll and deformed in a manner to expand it laterally to cause it to engage the inside of the core with suflicient force that the roll may be lifted and transported to the desired location.

In newspaper plants, for example, large quantities of paper are used daily, such paper being supplied in large rolls having hollow cores for mounting them on the newspaper printing machines as needed. The rolls are exceedingly heavy and, accordingly, it has been the practice in the past to move them from the storage location to the printing machines by means of lift trucks. The lift trucks heretofore used have been provided with horizontally extending forks for engaging and lifting the paper rolls, or with an expansible mandrel to be inserted in the core to grip the inside of the core. In the former arrangement, the forks had to be inserted underneath the roll of paper and this often resulted in tearing or wrinkling of the paper. In the latter arrangement, the expansible mandrel was constructed with a number of radially moving leaves which were adapted to be expanded radially to engage the inside of the core. With such a mandrel being made of a number of moving parts, the cost of manufacture has been relatively high and the chance for malfunctioning was always present.

The present device relates to an expansible plug which is an improvement over past devices and particularly over the expansible mandrels, in that the plug is formed of a minimum number of parts which makes it less expensive to produce and allows little room for any malfunctioning during use. Furthermore, the deformable plug, according to the present invention, may be readily interchanged with plugs of different sizes, as desired.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following specification and an examination of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a lift truck incorporating the lifting device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the lifting device partially in cross section;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the lifting device with the deformable plug engaging the inside of the core of a roll of paper; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, on a reduced scale, of the device according to the present invention showing the piston and cylinder with the deformable plug attached thereto.

In the drawings, 1 represents a conventional lift truck having a vertical post 2 on its front end. Horizontally extending beam 3 is slidably secured to the vertical post by support member 4 and is adapted to be raised and lowered on post 2 by conventional hydraulic means not shown. L-shaped brackets 5, one of which is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each have a flange 6 which is secured to the undersurface of the beam 3 and are connected together at one end by a downwardly extending plate 7. Secured to the beam 3 by means of these brackets is a "ice fluid cylinder 8, the lower and upper ends of which are connected through couplings 12 and 12, respectively, to a suitable source of pressure which may be either hydraulic or pneumatic. The lower end of the cylinder is provided with a head 9 which is secured to the lower end of the plate 7 by a bolt 10. Bolts 11 extend through the lower head 9 and are attached to the upper head 9' of the cylinder 8. The lower head of the cylinder is further provided with a downwardly extending portion 14 which is provided with an outwardly extending abutment or flange 15.

As shown in FIG. 4, a piston 16 is slidably mounted within the cylinder 8. Piston rod 17 is connected at its upper end to the piston and extends through an opening in the lower head 9 of the cylinder 8 and is provided at its lower end with an enlarged conically shaped disc or stop member 18. A seal 19 is positioned within the opening to prevent any leakage of fluid or air out of the cylinder around the piston rod. Slidably secured to the piston rod at a point beneath the cylinder 8 is a spacer sleeve 20 forming an abutment against which a deformable plug 21 engages, said plug being disposed between the spacer sleeve 20 and the stop member 18. The plug may be made of rubber or any other suitable deformable material and may have a central bore through which the piston rod extends of a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the piston rod or, as shown in FIG. 2, the deformble rubber plug may be a hollow cylinder having small openings 22 in the ends thereof through which the piston rod extends.

In operation, when it is desired to lift a roll or paper 23 having a hollow core 24, the beam member 3 is lowered by the operator of the lift truck to engage the flange 15 with the end of the paper roll with the plug 21 projecting into the hollow core, the flange 15 limiting the downward movement of the deformable plug inside the hollow core. Next, fluid is introduced through the coupling '12 to exert pressure on the undersurface of the piston 16 to thereby raise the piston within the cylinder 8. Upon a raising of the piston 16, the spacer sleeve 20 will move upwardly until it abuts against the flange 15. At this point, upward movement of the spacer sleeve will cease; however, the piston rod will continue to move upwardly and due to the presence of the stop member 18 on the lower end of the piston rod, the deformable plug 21 will abut against the spacer sleeve and be compressed longitudinally and expanded laterally wit-h respect to the iongit-udinal axis of the piston rod between said sleeve and the stop member 18, as shown in FIG. 3, to positively engage the inner wall of the hollow core. The spacer sleeve 20 positions the deformable rubber plug at a point spaced from the end of the paper roll and thereby prevents the plug from being squeezed out the end of the hollow core when deformed. Once the paper has been firmly engaged by the deformed plug, the operator of the lift truck may actuate the mechanism for lifting the beam member 3 so that the roll of paper may be transported to the desired location. As shown in the drawings, the stop member 18 is connected to the piston rod '22 and is moved toward the abutment 15 of the cylinder 8 to laterally expand the deformable plug. However, if desired, the abutment might be arranged to move toward the stop member.

It is apparent that the plug 21 may be interchanged with plugs of different sizes simply by removing the comically-shaped disc 18 (from the lower end of the piston rod 17 and replacing the plug with another plug of the desired size. Furthermore, the deformable plug being simple in construction is inexpensive to manufacture and may be cheaply replaced if it becomes worn or damaged.

The above description sets forth the preferred form of the lifting device according to the present invention; however, it is to be understood that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. A lifting device for securely engaging the inner wall of a hollow object having an opening communicating with the interior thereof comprising a fluid cylinder, a piston reciprocally mounted within said cylinder, a piston rod connected to said piston and extending out of one end of said cylinder, a spacer sleeve of a size smaller than the opening in said hollow object slidably mounted on said piston rod adjacent said one end of the cylinder and adapted to be inserted into said hollow object, an enlarged stop also of a size smaller than the opening in said object secured to the piston rod at a point spaced from said sleeve, a deformable hollow plug of a size smaller than said opening when undeformed mounted on said piston rod between said spacer sleeve and said stop, means for introducing fluid into said cylinder when said spacer sleeve, plug, and stop are disposed within said hollow object to exert a force on the piston in one direction for moving said stop toward said cylinder and said sleeve into engagement with said one end of the cylinder to compress said plug between said stop and sleeve in a direction along the longitudinal axis of said piston rod whereby said plug is expanded in a direction perpendicular to said axis between said stop and said sleeve to securely engage the inner wall of said object at a location spaced from said opening in the object by said sleeve, and means for introducing fluid into said cylinder to exert a force on the piston in the opposite direction to cause said plug to return to its original shape.

2. A roll lift device for securely engaging the inner wall of a hollow object through an opening in said object comprising a fluid cylinder; a piston reciprocally mounted within said cylinder; a piston rod connected at one end to said piston and having a portion extending through one end of said cylider; a flange on said one end of the cylinder of a size greater than said opening and adapted to abut the outer surface of said object; an enlarged stop removably secured to the other end of said piston rod; a spacer sleeve slidably mounted on the extending portion of said piston rod; a deformable hollow plug mounted on said extending portion of said piston rod between said spacer sleeve and said enlarged stop, said enlarged stop, spacer sleeve, and deformable hollow plug each being of a size adapted to pass through said opening; means for introducing fluid into said cylinder when said flange abuts the outer surface of said object to exert a force on said piston in one direction for moving said stop toward said flange and said sleeve into engagement therewith to cause said plug to be compressed in a direction along the longitudinal axis of said piston rod and expanded in a direction perpendicular to said axis to securely engage the inner wall of said object at a location spaced from the opening by said sleeve; and means for introducing fluid into said cylinder to exert a force on said piston in the opposite direction to allow said plug to return to its original shape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,271,206 Pollard Jan. 27, 1942 2,604,170 Lefiler July 22, 1952 2,638,165 Barber May 12, 1953 2,818,987 Krupp et al Jan. 7, 1958 2,826,445 Tidland Mar. 11, 1958 2,928,540 Cunningham Mar. 15, 1960 3,052,494 Williamson Sept. 4, 1962 

1. A LIFTING DEVICE FOR SECURELY ENGAGING THE INNER WALL OF A HOLLOW OBJECT HAVING AN OPENING COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR THEREOF COMPRISING A FLUID CYLINDER, A PISTON RECIPROCALLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID CYLINDER, A PISTON ROD CONNECTED TO SAID PISTON AND EXTENDING OUT OF ONE END OF SAID CYLINDER, A SPACER SLEEVE OF A SIZE SMALLER THAN THE OPENING IN SAID HOLLOW OBJECT SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID PISTON ROD ADJACENT SAID ONE END OF THE CYLINDER AND ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED INTO SAID HOLLOW OBJECT, AN ENLARGED STOP ALSO OF A SIZE SMALLER THAN THE OPENING IN SAID OBJECT SECURED TO THE PISTON ROD AT A POINT SPACED FROM SAID SLEEVE, A DEFORMABLE HOLLOW PLUG OF A SIZE SMALLER THAN SAID OPENING WHEN UNDEFORMED MOUNTED ON SAID PISTON ROD BETWEEN SAID SPACER SLEEVE AND SAID STOP, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING FLUID INTO SAID CYLINDER WHEN SAID SPACER SLEEVE, PLUG, AND STOP ARE DISPOSED WITHIN SAID HOLLOW OBJECT TO EXERT A FORCE ON THE PISTON IN ONE DIRECTION FOR MOVING SAID STOP TOWARD SAID CYLINDER AND SAID SLEEVE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID ONE END OF THE CYLINDER TO COMPRESS SAID PLUG BETWEEN SAID STOP AND SLEEVE IN A DIRECTION ALONG THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID PISTON ROD WHEREBY SAID PLUG IS EXPANDED IN A DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO SAID AXIS BETWEEN SAID STOP AND SAID SLEEVE TO SECURELY ENGAGE THE INNER WALL OF SAID OBJECT AT A LOCATION SPACED FROM SAID OPENING IN THE OBJECT BY SAID SLEEVE, AND MEANS FOR INTRODUCING FLUID INTO SAID CYLINDER TO EXERT A FORCE ON THE PISTON IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TO CAUSE SAID PLUG TO RETURN TO ITS ORIGINAL SHAPE. 